Tragedy is, and always has been, a popular form of play, used by Shakespeare in his plays and the ancient Greeks. There is something about the wonderful horror of seeing another suffer that has always fascinated people through time, and it is this fascination that tragedies play upon. That is not all though, tragedies make people aware of their own faults, and through the actions of the characters, learn to live more happily with others.
             A tragedy is human conflict, usually ending in suffering and even death. It shows a hero or heroine battling against various forces, usually delaying the inevitable. Tragedies aren't supposed to be random accidents or unavoidable hardships, they are caused by the faults of the major characters or others close to them. If a tragedy is seen as an accident, it removes much of the point of the play and makes it seem as if the hero has been cheated, and because the audience has formed pity for him, they feel cheated as well.
             Traditionally tragedies show the hero as being someone of great power. This is to accentuate their suffering, as the audience is expected to look upon them with awe as a person who would never be expected to fall on hard times, let alone become mixed up in a conflict that eventually would end in their suffering or death.
             Our tragic hero of the play is Oedipus, or King Oedipus as he is introduced to us. He has fine qualities as suggested by the priest at the start of the play, "Oedipus great and glorious" (line 78). He is described as being the wise and loving king of his land, a good man. But as the play progresses we see his dark side. While talking to Teiresias he shows that he quickly becomes angry, and doesn't hesitate to threaten, "Do you expect to escape the consequence?" (line 387). His temper is more and more obvious throughout the investigation, and it is the key thing that convinces the audience that he killed Laius. The conflict in the play...